Gotta go fast!
by Mad Mind with a Pen
Summary: Alternative power story. Taylor has Velocity's power, Velocity has Oni Lee's power, Oni Lee has Taylor's power. Slight tweaks where it makes sense. With her new power and different circumstances, Taylor joins the Wards. Of course, she gets very good at using her power.
1. Chapter 1

It was odd, being left alone. Sending me to the hospital for physical and mental trauma back in January hadn't been enough to achieve that. Afterwards, the bullying had continued.

Sometimes it was petty and nagging. Small theft, the constant buzz of ambient harassment, a push or a trip here and there. Other times, they went all out and started strong, only to keep pushing until something broke. These times, I was cornered and struck or worse.

A few times since January, maybe out of a need to escalate after the locker biohazard idea, Emma and Sophia had tread new ground. Touching me in inappropriate places, ripping clothing while passing me in the hallway, trying to expose me in front of others. Fortunately they seemed to be as new to these things as I was, despite the boyfriends both had had, so it never went particularly far.

All of that, and I just took it. _Nothing happened_. My life simply continued its path downhill, my few relationships deteriorated further, I cried often. The list of my abuses grew longer, more pages joining the stack in my closet every week. The bitches seemed to enjoy themselves.

Sometimes I thought about ending it all.

Most of the time, even that seemed pointless. It was hard to pinpoint the day the scales tipped and it finally happened, but it hadn't been long after the locker. One week I cried my professors' names, I asked and begged for help, and when it all failed I stood in front of windows for far too long, trying to imagine what it would feel like to plummet.

The next week I wasn't sure why it mattered to me at all. The mental anguish simply disappeared and I entered some sort of a second state, in which the bruises still hurt but I didn't exactly _care_. Time felt different in that state. Each moment crawled with excruciating slowness, but overall each day was captured in an instant.

The abuse kept coming, I kept taking it. More silently, this time, and I cried out of habit.

Today, on the eighth of April, I felt _different_ , and so did the bullies.

The reason why was obvious. Yesterday I had triggered in plain sight of many students, including Emma and Sophia as well as many others I didn't know by name. While chased I had disappeared, and the others knew what that meant.

You can't fuck with Taylor Hebert anymore, because the Wards are talking to her dad today. She's going to be a superhero. She'll kick your ass if you get her way while she saves the city from the ABB's famous dragon-and-bugs combo, or the Empire 88's nazi-flavored cutting powers.

 _Damn_ , this was good to think about.

The assorted bitches walked past me and my locker, and I kept my back turned on them. Defiant, but no very dangerous. They couldn't do anything, not now that my complaints and accusations would carry so much more weight. None of them grabbed at my top or pants, or made a comment.

I only caught a glimpse of Sophia's face as she passed me, staring at me. Her expression was something different altogether. Anger, and something else. No fear.

For a reason I couldn't figure out, it killed my ease completely. There was something with Sophia, something I couldn't know, that was going to bite me in the ass.

Despite the fact that I was having my first harassment-free day since I first set foot in Winslow, there was no smile on my face. What next?

I got home around two in the afternoon, after a call from my dad let me know the PRT was ready to talk to me. In the meantime, while they asked my dad a few questions, they'd wanted me to spend my first day post-trigger as normally as possible.

How it hadn't occurred to anyone that school was _also_ the place where I'd triggered, with the people who had caused me to trigger after years of near-torture, I didn't know. I supposed the pressure of normal procedure had surpassed any individual's ability to use logic.

I let myself in to find my dad and two young PRT officers, a man and a woman, as well as the hero Battery lounging around the place. It made sense that they had brought her, given that she was also a woman and our powers had some similarities.

The television was on but only the male PRT officer payed attention to it, while the others sat on chairs and the couch for a conversation.

"Taylor!", my dad exclaimed. "How are you feeling?"

His smile was contagious. Both of us had been feeling the damage in our increasingly distant relationship. It had taken a trigger event and a lot of fear and confusion the previous night for us to have an actual intimate conversation again, the first in months, and now he was excited for us to be together again.

I was just as happy to be close to my father again, enough so that all the _hurt_ that had plagued me and culminated only about twenty three hours earlier could be pushed aside to deal with later.

My issues were still there, but they were the third biggest thing on my mind right now. First was having a discussion with my father and the PRT, and second was whatever was up with Sophia.

"I'm great, dad," I said in a sort of lie. I was _alright_ , once I added every feeling up. "Hi everyone."

Everyone in the room stood at once. I nearly expected them to applaud.

"It's great to meet you, Taylor," Battery said a she stepped closer to offer her hand. I shook it and returned the compliment.

The two officers introduced themselves as Barry and Emily. I noticed the handgun they each had at their belt wasn't the traditional kind. Non-lethal?

I was offered a seat at the couch, in between dad and Battery, while Emily and Barry sat on two chairs they'd brought closer from the dining room table.

Battery was the one who said the speech I imagine we all received.

"Alright, Taylor. I think you understand very well how important this conversation we're having is."

I nodded. "Of course."

"Then allow me to skip some of the build up, I know I hated waiting through it back when I joined," she said with a wink, "and ask you a simple question. You can answer with a yes or a no, or more if you want to. Taylor, do you _want_ to join the Brockton Bay Wards?"

I had thought about this.

"Yes. I also have reasons to _not_ want to join, but I want to at least try your way before I choose to go it alone and hurt myself or someone else."

Battery smiled. "I'm glad to hear it, Taylor. If it's nothing too personal, can I ask you about your reasons to hesitate? I might be able to clarify a few things.

She seemed very nice, with the way she looked me in the eye without _staring_ to push her dominance. She had a pleasant smile and a light voice, and I found it hard to refuse the request. From what I'd heard and what I could see, she was what we all wanted heroes to be like. Powerful and _good_.

"It's not a problem. I, uh, don't really like the part where I'm going to be under someone's authority and scrutiny. That hasn't always worked out well for me." _Understatement of the year_ , I thought to myself, and the hero nodded patiently. "Also being surrounded by a small number of unknown kids my age. I feel like it would only take two or three of them disliking me for the rest to go along and treat me the same way it's been for me in Winslow."

She nodded again, but her expression changed slightly. In some little way, it reminded me of the look I had seen on Sophia's bitch face.

Please let this be a coincidence.

"I think you should be perfectly fine," Battery assured me. "Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win, Gallant and Aegis are all very nice, and the people in charge of the Wards are themselves the subjects of scrutiny to make sure our young heroes are treated fairly."

"And Shadow Stalker? You skipped her."

 _Please have a good explanation_.

"Well, it isn't a secret that Shadow Stalker is with us as a _probationary_ Ward because of previous crimes. She was never a villain, but her methods were very non-heroic."

"And she's going to be a problem to me," I said in the tone of an accusation.

"We have already spoken to her about the possibility of a new Ward joining soon, and she knows not to act out. As a non-probationary Ward, any clash between the two of you would have you immediately favored when it comes to assigning blame, and she does not have much more blame left to carry before her status is _revisited_."

She finished her obviously prepared explanation with a knowing wink. It made sense, we both knew it, she was winning me over, we both knew it.

But it wasn't exactly over.

"Excuse me," my wonderful father, intruded, "but it sounds to me like you _expect_ Shadow Stalker to go after the new kid. Does she have a history of hazing?"

"Not really hazing," Battery said in a hurry, "but she has often displayed a very negative attitude. We wanted to make sure that she wouldn't see Taylor as an easy target, and that Taylor would know to report anything she might do. With these precautions, I am _confident_ that there won't be any ongoing problems."

"That's good, I guess." I was being honest - nothing the hero said didn't make sense to me - but I still had a lingering doubt.

"One last question, and then I'm fine with dropping this train of thought," I promised, "but I really need an honest answer here."

Battery looked at me, and I saw that same expression flashing on her face before she composed herself.

"Do you believe she will go after me not because I'm new, but because I'm _me_? Do I know Shadow Stalker?"

She wore a weird kind of broken smile, now. "I understand that you want honesty here, Taylor, but her identity is a secret and-"

I interrupted her, as rude as that was.

"Is she Sophia Hess?"

The look on Battery's face changed. "I can neither confirm nor deny. I can admit that it would be a good guess, though."

My dad seemed to be catching up. "Yes, my daughter is a very smart kid. Now that we all understand what is _really_ being discussed," he said as the two PRT officers seemed more confused than ever before, "I'm going to demand a _written_ promise that at the first and slightest infraction Shadow Stalker commits against my daughter, she is to be immediately expelled from the Wards."

I nodded vigorously. "If you want to have a better idea of what she might try, I have an extensive list of the things she likes doing to me."

Everyone in the room, my father included, seemed surprised.

Battery recovered quickly. She must have done recruiting before.

"I would be willing to look that over, as well as mentioning your idea of an additional contract to protect Taylor to the people in charge of her case."

"Thank you", I said, and dad echoed me.

The hero stood, the circuitry on her tight body suit flashing in places with the movement.

"Mr. Hebert, Taylor, thank you for your hospitality and for considering a membership in the Brockton Bay Wards. Unless you have more questions, I believe enough was discussed today. I will contact you again when I know more about your requests."

We all stood and shook hands, exchanged polite words.

"In the meantime, Taylor," Battery concluded, "you should try and think of a name for your identity as a hero."

They all left, and dad and I were alone again. We shared a minute of silence before he spoke.

"If they refuse… If it can't be as cut and dry as 'she does something, she's kicked out', are you going to refuse their offer?"

"Don't know. I might still join, but then I'll spend as much time doing my job as a Ward as I will spend looking over my shoulder."

He offered a tentative smile. "Whatever she does, you'll be able to escape her. And no matter what the circumstances are, you'd better believe I will not let them get away with giving her a slap on the wrist."

"Thanks, dad."

I smiled back, genuinely. Sitting together on the couch, I edged closer to him so I could rest my head on his shoulder. I found it equally comforting and odd, after avoiding him emotionally for so long. There was more on his mind, obviously, but he allowed me to dictate when we were silent.

"Wanna help me find a cape name?"

"Sure, just let me get the computer. Can't pick one that's already taken by some villain in Poland or something."

I started thinking as he left the room, staring at my hand while I drummed my fingers on the couch fast enough for them to be a blur. I was fast, but my power also made me less of a _solid_ object. I couldn't lift much or even open doors easily, but it was the cost of moving at ten times the speed I could achieve without the power.

If I joined the Wards, and maybe one day the Protectorate, one of my duties would surely be to race across the city and be the first response in certain cases. As fast as I was, this still meant running long distances was necessary. I made a mental note to start going on runs soon.

Speedster?

Blur?

Flash?

Velocity?

I wasn't sure. Dad came back to the couch with the laptop. We searched my first few ideas online and found that every one was already taken, some by capes who had seemingly unrelated powers.

"They should have a committee approve these names before letting capes adopt them," I joked, "and we wouldn't have a fire manipulator called Blur."

"Even better, let's let bureaucrats assign names. Armsmaster would be called Fight-Tinker."

I laughed. "Legend could be Flying-Lasers, or Alexandria Strong-Fly-Tough."

"Miss Militia would be called Guns."

"That fits really well! Guess who this one is: Smoke-Bitch."

"Taylor!" He said acting outraged, over the top. "Of course I know this is Shadow Stalker."

"Damn right. And what would I be?", I asked him.

"Weird-Fast?", he suggested with a smile.

"Maybe Weak-when-Fast?"

"That works," he said with a firm, professional nod. "We've got your cape name, Weak-when-Fast. Welcome to the Wards."

"What an honor. Seriously though, what do you think of Rapid? It means fast, but also violent, like an inescapable current of water. Fast and powerful, despite the obvious drawback of my power, not that I want to advertise my weaknesses," I suggested.

Dad smiled at me. "Let's just check that Rapid isn't taken already," he said while initiating the search online, "but I'm all for it."

There wasn't a single match online. No hero, no villain, no rogue.

I had my identity.


	2. Chapter 2

The day after the meeting with Battery, a Saturday, I went out into the city wearing a mask.

I didn't have a costume to speak of just yet, so I wore skin tight running wear and a ski mask. Not the most glamorous outfit, but I was going to be a blur speeding around the city, and I had previously noticed that my power didn't extend much past my skin. Tight clothing was fine, a cellphone or pepper spray was already too much to bring along. Excess mass or volume on my person slowed me down, something to look out for in a fight.

It was hard to tell whether I accelerated or the world slowed down to a near-halt when I used my power. It felt like a mix of both, but the way I didn't get tired as easily seemed to point to my accelerating.

I suspected not many Brockton Bay residents were surprised to see a blurred figure flashing through their streets, what with the several flying and speeding capes who were part of the local fauna. In the aftermath of a traumatic event, I'd stepped from one side of the line to the other, spectator to performer.

The liberating feeling of outrunning any vehicle you'd find in a city made it seem worth it.

Worth the fear and panic, worth not knowing what would happen to me if Sophia and the several boys who had been chasing me had caught up. After catching glimpses of what a _different_ kind of torment felt like, something other than punches and insults, my vivid imagination had offered visions of acts that scarred women for their entire lives.

I shook the thought out of my head as I ran the entire length of the Boardwalk in seconds. Thinking back to it dulled my fun, and if it was going to really hit me later, then I'd enjoy myself in the meantime.

In the brief time that I spent by the water, the Protectorate's force fielded base tempted me from a distance. Resources, support, friends, _heroics_.

If they proved to be willing to work _with_ me instead of expecting me to work _for_ them, I'd join in a heartbeat.

A sharp turn led me back into the thick of Brockton Bay, and I went to explore the nastier parts of town on a whim. Teenage girls have no place there, but capes certainly do.

It struck me that I had been running faster than I ever thought I could for several minutes and I was barely breathing heavily. Without training, a feat. With training, I'd run across the state as a warm up.

Even the bad part of town wasn't too bad in broad daylight on a weekend. Some shadier types hung around street corners or outside inconspicuous doors, most likely offering drugs, women or other sinful pleasures. A few times I made it a point to run extremely close to the thugs that thy'd feel a breeze, enjoying the idea that I'd make them nervous.

It's fun to have powers. I made me wonder why so many heroes and villains were so gloomy; I hadn't been so happy for _years_.

After a few more laps around town, I returned home to my dad. We spent the afternoon and evening together, and I went to bed hoping to hear back from the PRT soon.

I woke up late in the morning, ready for a lazy Sunday.

I found dad in the living room, sitting in front of the television. He was listening to the news.

… _impossible to tell who or what triggered the conflict, but the escalation was immediate and scaled beyond what is normally tolerated …_

"What happened?", I asked. There were images of scorched buildings, some windows still leaking tall flames. Helicopter views of a city block that was nearly completely collapsed, the rubble burned through.

… _Lung was identified as the primary offender in this event, but many other parahumans were involved …_

"A cape fight," he responded. His voice was weak. "It looks like what Behemoth does. They think hundreds died."

… _amateur footage reveals that Hellhound of the Undersiders and her dogs were involved, as well as Purity of the Empire 88. The battle continued until the intervention of a Protectorate team led by Armsmaster and New Wave's Glory Girl and Shielder. The heroes managed to break up the fight and lead Lung away, at which point …_

"They have a kill order on Lung, and they're actively looking to capture any other villains involved, if only to get a better idea of what happened."

I hadn't been there.

He continued. "They still don't know if any capes died, but the casualties are just…"

I wondered if my father knew anyone who lived in that area. Probably better not to ask. I had something else nagging in my thoughts.

"If I'd joined the Wards immediately, maybe I could have helped," I said.

He looked at me, met my eyes and smiled, shaking his head slowly. "This isn't what your power does, Taylor. You can't fight monsters, or carry people to safety. Don't regret not being there."

He sounded right, but it still felt wrong.

"I could have moved ahead to warn people to evacuate, I could have been useful."

"Taylor…"

"They're monsters, dad, you said so. The heroes need as much help as they can get."

He stopped to consider my words. He always listened to me, never treated me like a child. I always supposed he needed me to be more of an adult after my mom died.

"How about Shadow Stalker?", he asked with a pained expression. "If you join now, they won't need to consider your additional terms."

"Fuck Sophia," I decided. "She doesn't even matter when we have problems like _this_ ," I said, gesturing towards the television. It was displaying some of the phone camera footage of clashing capes, blasts of light indicating Purity's interventions. Lung was seen here and there, roaring through the bursts of flame he used to force her to stay away. There was nothing human about the man anymore. The scales, wings, and reformed limbs had turned him into something closer to an Endbringer.

If I couldn't fight that, I could help the ones who could.

"If you're certain, Taylor. But don't rush into this because of what happened last night. Lung's actions shouldn't force you into a bad situation as well."

"I'm not rushing. I was just hesitating, but now it's clear. I just don't have enough reasons _not_ to join. My power is nearly useless on its own and the heroes _need_ more help. Sophia's a small and personal problem. I will deal with her."

I turned to leave the room.

"Where are you going?", he asked me. "Are you doing this now?"

I shook my head. "Not joining just yet, but I'll at least help them look for survivors today."

I left to put on the same improvised costume I'd worn the day before. I waited long enough for my father to wish me good luck before I opened the front door and activated my power, reaching incredible speed in an instant.

I'd seen enough to know where I was headed. Ten or fifteen seconds later, I was there.

The concerted efforts of capes and normal firefighters were met with success, but smoke still rose in places, where the rubble piled high enough that the deeper layers still combusted slowly. I allowed myself a second without my power to take in the scene, to understand the patterns capes and normals followed to rescue as many as possible.

Fortunately for Lung, many of the capes tough enough to take him in a fight were too necessary to the rescue effort to join the manhunt. Glory Girl was the first one I noticed, flying from point to point in straight lines without hesitation, sometimes carrying a large piece of concrete, sometimes making sure the ruins didn't collapse further while the unpowered made their way in. The confidence in her movements suggested she was following instructions, maybe from a headset.

Without knowing for sure who was coordinating the operation, I could assume Brockton Bay's most prominent Tinker was involved. A quick run around the destroyed area revealed more of the scene of destruction to me, and led me to the apparent leadership here.

Armsmaster was standing in the middle of a number of tables erected on an untouched part of the road, obviously busy working with a computer as he snapped orders out loud, without looking to anybody in particular. Behind him was a small team of PRT agents armed with both nonlethal and lethal weaponry, as well as the team's leader, who stood by Armsmaster but seemed out of place.

I noticed Ubiquity appeared by the group, so I approached fast enough that the teleporter wouldn't leave again but slowly enough that I wouldn't startle anyone and trigger a fight with anyone. Every PRT agent brandished their weapons in my direction, and their leader gestured for them to relax once I froze.

"State your name and purpose, ma'am," the PRT officer demanded.

"My cape name is Rapid, I'm new and most likely joining the Wards soon. I'm here to help save people."

"You haven't been cleared to participate, ma'am. I'm really sorry but I'm going to need you to go home and wait until this is over."

It hadn't occurred to me that they might refuse my help. It left me stunned for a moment, long enough that Ubiquity spoke up.

"What's your power, Rapid? I noticed speed, anything else?"

Grateful for the non-dismissal, I was honest. "I'm _very_ fast, but when I'm using my power I can't interact with the world very much. I can't lift anything, but the rest of the world can't hurt me much either."

He nodded. "Not bad, I may have an idea of how to use you."

The PRT officer spoke up. "Excuse me sir, but we can't allow _unknown_ _parahumans_ to wander the site and risk people's lives. This is insane."

Ubiquity gave the man a quick look over, then tapped Armsmaster's shoulder. The Tinker nearly jumped, as focused as he was on coordinating every cape involved here, but he recovered quickly.

"She's honest. Give her a headset," was all he said. I couldn't help but notice his voice went along with his appearance _perfectly_ in making him the ideal candidate for most heroic person. What I could tell from his lower face's expression, though, was that he was very much annoyed.

As combat oriented as he was, he probably wanted to be chasing Lung, but his power must have been seen as key in saving innocent lives. I made a mental note not to test his temper today.

Ubiquity followed the instruction and fished a thin headset out of a small cardboard box. Without asking me, he reached over to set it around my right ear and pushed a button on the set, pressing it almost painfully against my head. He then nodded and looked away before disappearing. Cool power.

" _State your name_ ," a woman's voice emerged from the headset. The volume control seemed ideal, loud enough to be heard clearly without drowning out any of the sounds around me.

"Rapid."

Two of the PRT officers looked at me strangely when I appeared to speak to myself.

" _Describe your power briefly_."

I placed a finger against the headset to indicate what I was doing.

"Speed, with reduced ability to interact with my environment."

There was a _beep_ following the end of my statement, and I waited nearly a minute before Armsmaster glanced at me and muttered a phrase that had the words "Rapid" and "fire" in it.

" _Rapid, do you consent to a visual extension of the communications device?"_

Without really thinking about it, anxious to start helping out, I said "Yes."

The headset vibrated and then shook as a tendril extended from it to form a basic lens in front of my right eye. It startled me, but my jump did not slow its progress. The device turned into a kind of low resolution monitor. It only displayed letters overlayed on different parts of the landscape around me, some of them indicating places I didn't have line of sight with.

Tinker tech, obviously.

" _Please proceed to sector 27-b_."

I activated my power and started searching around myself for a hovering 27-b on the monitor, then started speeding that way once I found it. I was glad to notice the headset was light enough for me to carry along, although it did feel much more uncomfortable. My maximum speed was probably very much reduced with that small addition.

To an outside observer, it must have taken me three seconds to reach my destination.

I was in front of one of the less-demolished buildings, one that had only been hit with minor debris and maybe sustained small fires. I stood amongst human firefighters, all of whom touched a hand to their helmet upon my arrival. It seemed that they were being briefed about their parahuman support.

The one in charge of their team, a man fifty years older than I was, pointed to an open door that led to a bar.

"There's a fire in their basement. We don't know if there's people in there, and Dragon says you'll get past the flames fine. We need recon!"

" _Confirmed. Proceed with caution_ ," the female voice - _Dragon_ 's voice - confirmed. So I was working under _two_ notorious tinkers.

"Alright," was all I could think of as a response, and I nodded.

"You look young, miss," he added. "Don't get hurt in there."

Without saying anything I disappeared into a blur and hurried inside the bar. It was easy to identify the basement from the heavy smoke coming out of the door.

Now, Dragon seemed to believe I could go in there and back out without coming to harm. I should be fine holding my breath, since my powered state allowed me to run for longer, maybe it overall reduced my need for oxygen?

And then there was the heat. Like anything else, it would affect me much less than it would anyone else, not to mention that I wouldn't spend a particularly long time exposed to it.

I was here to save lives. Not sparing another moment for hesitation, I rushed in through the door and down the stairs. I was holding my breath, and while the air was getting noticeably hotter around, it didn't seem to be burning me _yet_.

The smoke had another effect, though. It was thick enough that the constant stream of airborne solid particles slowed me down and burned my eyes.

I continued in deeper, squinting in hopes of retaining enough sight to identify whether there was anybody down here. With my speed I cleared the entire floor in a few seconds thoroughly enough that I was confident nobody needed rescuing around me, and I started heading back up.

I was pretty much blind at this point, and had been steadily slowing down against the thick, heavy smoke. Without being able to see where I was going, my movement impeded by the smoke, in a _terrible_ hurry, I missed a step and fell flat on my face.

The impact hurt, but it was thankfully lessened by the lowered face - corner of step interaction. I immediately gave up on opening my eyes for navigation and set to crawling, my sense of touch still intact.

I was significantly slower, of course, and the heat was catching up with me. My clothing was probably damaged at this point, and I could feel some more exposed parts of my skin tightening and pulling back.

After maybe five more real-time seconds, I made it out and back to my firefighters.

They were immediately taking care of me, checking my breathing and pulse, checking that my clothing wasn't burning, asking questions faster than I could answer. I blinked some of my sight back and saw a few others readying their equipment to burst into the bar and do their job.

"Nobody," I managed to say. It seemed that I had started breathing again at some point in there, maybe when I fell. The smoke and hot air had done a number on my throat.

"It's okay," I added.

Then they said something, and I passed out.

My body felt better than ever as I woke up, but kept my eyes shut. There was enough light forcing its way through my eyelids to nearly give me a headache already.

There were others in the room, switching between politely conversing and _bickering_. Without understanding how many people there were, and who they were, it took me a second before I could make sense of any of it.

"My daughter's intentions were clear to her and to everyone else, I won't deny that, but I want to raise _enough_ of a stink that a similar mistake won't be made again."

My father.

"I understand absolutely. Of course, if this matter could stay away from the press, we would appreciate it greatly."

A woman whose voice I did not recognize.

"Give me a good reason to believe you're actually doing something about the matter and we can keep this quiet."

"Thank you. Of course, the first step will involve an apology from Armsmaster, as well as a few very necessary conversations he needs to have with his superiors."

"A start. I want more than that," my dad insisted.

"We will keep you notified of the measures we will be taking, as they are determined."

"That's all I'm asking for. How is Armsmaster responsible for this, though?", he asked.

The woman sighed.

"You see, he was instructed to cooperate with Dragon in organising the search and rescue effort. It turned out that he took the _initiative_ ," she said with great emphasis, almost as if she was staring at the Tinker himself, "to involve himself in Lung's pursuit from a distance."

There was a pause, I imagined a nod accompanied it.

"And he couldn't do both jobs properly at the same time."

"Precisely."

I chose that moment to obviously wake up, lightly stretching as I started blinking some more light into my eyes.

"Taylor! Are you alright?", my dad asked, rushing to my side. Through my rather blurry vision, he appeared appropriately worried.

"I'm great," I said, giving him a smile, "better than I expected."

"That's because they had the famous Panacea working on you, kid."

"That was nice."

I looked around a little more. The woman I hadn't recognised still eluded me, although her squat figure and stern features rang a bell. She was someone who had appeared on television, I just couldn't place her exactly.

And, standing by the door to personally guard my room, stood the one and only Armsmaster. Interesting.

"Hi, Taylor. My name is Director Piggot," the woman introduced herself, coming closer with a hand extended for a shake.

I accepted it politely. "Hi, Director."

Armsmaster remained silent, his back turned to us as he gazed into the door's wood. An early punishment?

"How did the rescue effort go?", I asked.

Both she and my father smiled, although probably for slightly different reasons.

"Very well," she said. "Forty-four were rescued from critical condition. Actually, the time you saved the firefighters allowed them to intervene elsewhere and save a life."

I smiled too, at that news. I made a difference.

"I thought you'd be happy to know that," she added.

My father and I just beamed at each other. I had done something heroic and survived, fulfilling our every wish.

Director Piggot stepped back and cleared her voice.

"Armsmaster," she said loudly, "you may enter the room."

With military precision the Tinker stepped back, opened the door, walked out into the hallway and then back into my hospital room before shutting the door again.

"Now, present your apology to Rapid."

Without changing his rigid posture, he turned his head to face me.

"Rapid, my actions and my disrespect for the orders I was given nearly cost you your life. For that I am deeply sorry, and swear that in the future I will strive to fulfill my duty as I always should have done. You are a hero, but before that you are a human being, and putting you in harm's way was the greatest mistake I could have done."

Then his head snapped back in place, staring at some point straight ahead. He had almost sounded sincere, and I imagine him practicing reciting the short speech in front of a mirror.

I giggled. None of the adults seemed to understand why.


	3. Chapter 3

The PRT worked fast, or maybe they just felt they owed me a favor. Suing them was a real option, since my age meant I could not be held responsible for my own injuries two days before. The blame fell partially on Ubiquity, who hadn't immediately escorted me to a safer area, and mostly on Armsmaster, who had send me right into the fires and collapsing buildings.

Personally, though, I held myself responsible. Armsmaster hadn't acted the way adults were supposed to, but I would probably have attempted to save people _without_ the Protectorate's support if he had rejected my offer of help. Things might have been even worse.

I hadn't actually told them that much, which was probably why they still acted as though I was on the verge of contacting my lawyer.

I had a costume! Skintight without looking inappropriate, and extremely light yet tough. Specifically, fireproof. Let it be said that the Protectorate learned from their mistakes, maybe.

It felt odd to wear something like that suit, as comfortable as it was, and even odder to see myself wearing it. Somehow, despite still being myself, I looked like a hero, like someone who would appear out of thin air to disarm the bad guys and stop a robbery, or fight feared villains mano a mano.

The thought was a little scary without the adrenaline high that had pushed me to participate in the post-Lung cleanup operation. My power thankfully suited recon and communication much better. Carrying a weapon was simply not a possibility, no matter how light and small our Tinkers could make them. It was me, the clothes I wore, and the mini headset if truly necessary. Even that much slowed me down considerably, although I had of course never tested my maximum speed.

No streaking Brockton Bay for me, even at hundreds of miles an hour.

I sped around the training room a few more times, turning into a light blue streak on the screens they'd set up for the heroes to observe their own performances. Each one also displayed my current speed in mph.

Two hundred, and nowhere near my maximum. They'd need to build a bigger training room to find out how fast I could go.

The monitors flashed yellow, coming on and off every second for ten seconds. I took that time to ease myself into a normal walking speed and the double sliding doors came apart with a quiet hiss. Considering how efficient the rest of the building was, they could definitely have made them silent.

A man in a rust red suit walked in, smiling brightly, followed by a girl dressed in green. She was much shorter, with a skirt and a visor.

"Rapid, is that it?", Aegis asked. He extended a hand towards me, and I shook it.

"That's it. Glad to meet you, Aegis, Vista," I responded. My own voice sounded calm to my ears, which only meant that I was successfully hiding how nervous I was. The fact that my costume, or at least this first draft of it, covered my face up to the bridge of my nose helped to conceal my expression.

I went to shake Vista's smaller hand but she came closer than I expected and gave me a quick one armed hug. "I'm happy to meet you too! Can I see your power?", she asked seeming excited.

Aegis settled a hand on her shoulder, and I could see how he cocked his head to her side. "Be good, Vista. Maybe Rapid doesn't want to."

I shook my head. "I'll show you, but you have to show me too. Deal?"

She nodded, and I disappeared. The counters on the monitors that tracked me, some of the others having repurposed themselves to follow the room's new occupants, shot up to a hundred and fifty in a few seconds, and I simply ran laps around the room pushing myself to the extent of my power.

Vista reacted in slow motion, her head and Aegis's sometimes jerking left and right to try and follow me.

Two hundred, two hundred and fifty.

I stopped, taking a few seconds to dissipate my momentum until I stood where I had not a minute earlier. This time, Vista had a different look on her face.

"Not bad at all," Aegis commented. "I don't think I could have taken you out, there."

"To be fair, I couldn't have done anything to you. When I use my power, I punch about as hard as a baby."

I wasn't quite that weak, but the truth wasn't too far from the exaggeration.

Vista spoke up. "Do it again, but this time I'll use my power too!"

Over the course of the next few minutes I discovered that while her power acted too slowly to stop me, the terrain becoming jagged and distorted could cut my speed in half. It was still very impressive to see Vista's power in action, especially since she was said to be one of the most powerful parahumans in the city, fated to enjoy a successful career as a Protectorate hero.

After a while, just as I was beginning to feel tired from the running, Aegis asked us to stop so we could have the conversation they'd been sent to have with me. He was friendly, as well as very handsome in his costume, but clearly concerned with being an effective team leader.

 _My_ team leader, soon. If I went ahead and joined. There was still time to say I changed my mind, and they would even let me keep the costume in case I still considered suing, most likely.

He led us outside the training room and past the changing room I'd used to squeeze into my light blue costume, into a kind of rest room. It had three metal tables with four chairs each, a coffee machine and a vending machine. We sat at the closest table, and Aegis picked a seat that had a corner of the room behind him.

"Nothing to worry about, Rapid, just some news the higher ups want passed on to you. I wasn't given a lot of details, just about your volunteering for the search and rescue."

Vista seemed more distracted now, and I saw she was staring at the vending machines with loving eyes.

"Also," he continued, "I heard that we were to expect some tension between Shadow Stalker and you."

"That is true," I said, "and maybe even an understatement. I know who she is, she knows who I am, and we've had a lot of issues before."

He nodded. As professional as he was right now, I could tell that this kind of situation was what he disliked about being team leader.

"Precisely how it was described to me. Now, my question is: are you willing to put it all behind you?"

"She's not going to just, _get away_ with the things she's done," I said, feeling my patience already lessening. What were they trying to do?

"No, she won't," Vista butted in. "She's already sort of not officially suspended because they're looking into things she's been accused of."

Aegis nodded. "I'm sorry, I should have phrased this differently. Assuming Shadow Stalker can put her personal problems with you aside and treat you like any other teammate, assuming she's been reasonably punished for what she may have done, could you do the same and do your part in keeping the peace?"

That sounded better. "I'm the one who should be sorry, Aegis. I just thought you were going somewhere else with this."

"Not a problem, Rapid. We all have personal factors that make us tick, and being a Ward involves learning to be tolerant of these individual sensitivities."

He was smiling warmly. It sounded like something he'd heard at a seminar and later rehearsed, but the promise it made _was_ actually something I appreciated.

"I get it. The higher ups reign her in, and I reign myself in. The Wards have peace within the team, everything runs much more smoothly. I can do that, as long as the other half of the job gets done as well."

There was relief in Aegis's posture now, his shoulder dropping from where they'd been tensed up. " _Thank you_. I think everyone in this building will be happy to hear that."

"So when is she joining us for patrols?", Vista asked her older teammate.

"That was the other part of this conversation. Rapid, how soon would you feel ready to spend a day in a Ward's shoes?"

I thought about it. My father wasn't expecting me to come back at any specific time, waiting instead for an official phone call to let him know I was being processed back to the PRT building. If he got worried, he could call and get a status update immediately.

"If we can do it today, that would really be best."

It turned out Vista hadn't been ordered to come talk to me with Aegis, she'd only chosen to tag along out of curiosity. Now she was really excited to see me in action during my first semi-official Ward patrol.

It was still only the three of us, only this time we were running across rooftops, Aegis sometimes taking off for an aerial view before coming back down for conversation. I did much the same, darting to the street below and back up the fire escape in a blink or checking either side of the roof we were on to see what was going on before returning.

He flew, I sped, she bent the world around her to cheat her way into being a Mover like us. I imagined we must have been an impressive sight to behold, and it was difficult to reconcile the way I saw myself out of costume with how easy it was to belong with the other heroes.

It answered an old question: "How do they run around in skintight costumes, how do they take themselves seriously and pull it off?"

Very simply, actually. Find other weirdos to do it with and enjoy it.

It was a quiet day in Brockton Bay, particularly as it was a Tuesday during office hours. Even villains and gangbangers could hold day jobs, after all. For me, it was yet another day without school and associated drama to spoil it. The Wards program had mandatory school attendance, but I'd heard a possible transfer to Arcadia mentioned the day before.

Things were looking up. I still had yet to run into Sophia again, and I _was_ feeling some dread building up in anticipation, but I was having a nice day otherwise. Using my power always came with some satisfaction too, like scratching an itch my hands couldn't reach.

Aegis came back down from one of his scouting flights, pointing back as he spoke, his voice carrying effortlessly through the air.

"Suspicious activity over there, I'm guessing E88."

With that he waved us to the right direction and flew ahead. Vista shrank the space in between, making her every step into a giant leap, while I caught up with Aegis in a second. I had discovered earlier that my speed made it possible to jump extremely long distances, so I easily made my way to the street Aegis had spotted. I stopped at the edge of the roof overhead, leaning over just enough to gauge the situation.

Aegis landed beside me after a few moments, keeping his flight low towards the end. Vista reached us soon after, and I noticed that none of her distortions would be visible from street level. The two were clearly much more experienced in this than I was.

I could see some sort of deal happening below us. There was a heated conversation I couldn't quite understand, one man sounding more pleading and another who sounded firm. Quickly the pleading relented and pulled his wallet out of his pocket, before counting dollar bills with shaky hands.

He handed the money over, which was counted by a third, and a fourth stepped through a door, into the building we were on top of.

Four men, the three sellers built like stacks of bricks. All had their hair cut short. I assumed they were armed, possibly with guns. I looked to Aegis, who was still focused on the street below.

He whispered. "I heard heroin. It changes hands, Vista disrupts, I fly in. Rapid, be ready for runners, lookouts, reinforcements, anything."

I nodded. The fourth came back out with a package tightly wrapped in brown paper, something the size of his fist, holding it out, and Aegis shot down into the street.

I had wanted to state the obvious, but he was gone before I could have opened my mouth.

The package is too big. This isn't a regular deal. There will be reinforcements. _We_ need reinforcements.

The four men were distracted by a growing bulge in the wall behind the buyer, and Aegis slammed into the two biggest guys. They were thrown to the ground immediately, the impacts loud enough that I doubted they'd get up before the fight was over, and he turned to the one with the one with the firm tone.

The buyer was running away already, the package clutched under his arm. I accelerated and nearly flew down a fire escape, reaching street level before he'd taken another ten steps.

As a skinny teenage girl with little affinity for sports, I wasn't about to just fight the guy, and my power made it hard to do more than poke him.

I waited patiently as he ran in slow motion, until his legs were in the position I needed them to be in. I could see from his facial expression that he'd only just noticed my presence. I kicked his back foot as hard as I could, and it didn't do much to hurt him.

It was enough that he kicked himself in the ankle mid-run, and he tripped into slow-motion flying. Confident that I could leave him be for a minute of my time, I turned back to the others and saw Aegis flying towards the last standing man.

Somehow, it looked like the man was about to successfully dodge the inhumanly fast hero, despite Vista's obvious influence shrinking the distance between the two and marbling the ground under his feet.

I took a few seconds to push the still falling man's hands where they were more likely to protect his face once he hit the ground, and ran over to help Aegis corner his target.

He was already clear of my teammate's charge, slowly shouldering open the door one of the fallen men had used to enter the building in a long leap. No matter how fast the man was, I was faster, and with my subhuman strength, I had few options left.

With all the strength I could muster, I repeatedly punched the man in the crotch until he was through the door. The normal delay that occurred before the pain reached the brain in humans would have him screaming around the same time he hit the floor, and he was now more likely to crash than he was to drop into an expert running landing. At that point Aegis was swerving in mid-air, either very much at ease with controlling his momentum or simply not burdened by that particular phenomenon, and so I trusted him enough that I returned to my runner.

He had hit the ground already, weird waves in his skin rippling upwards from the point of contact. It seemed to me that he was mostly successful at catching himself, so I tried to pull at the package he was still clutching under his arm.

Impossible to move it. Too weak. On the other hand, his fall had revealed the gun he kept in his waistband. I put a hand on it and started yanking, then turned off my power mid-yank. Time resuming its normal speed, he finished crashing down while the gun came out of his waistband.

Then I accelerated again and positioned myself six feet in front of him, gun clearly in hand, and slowed down again.

The starting and stopping was slightly disorienting, although more so for him than it was for me.

He finished falling flat to the ground and immediately scrambled to start running again, until he noticed me pointing his own gun at a point between his feet and mine. He stopped.

"Throw the package in the trash over there," I said in my best commanding voice. It sounded off to me, but the actually complied, and tossed the brown pack.

"What now?", he asked, shaking nervously. I could also see how he'd skinned his hand, and was thankful I hadn't made him fall on his face. I aimed to be a cruelty-free hero as much as possible.

"Now, -", I started and stopped immediately.

Something inside the building to my left roared. Aegis was alone in there, fighting an opponent I had _assumed_ was down."

I accelerated again and rushed to help, slowing down slightly to change the trash container that the package had landed in. The buyer hadn't turned around yet when I ran through the door and left him alone in the alley with only Vista overlooking him, and I saw she had started sinking the ground around his feet.

Once inside, I needed a few seconds to understand what I saw. The man whose crotch I had done my best to smash was up - although his face seemed _very_ tense - and dodging a punch from Aegis, who himself had started turning around to see a growing mass of metal descending on him.

That was Hookwolf, already transformed from the feet up to his shoulders, and he had managed to sneak up on Aegis. Another second and he would be engulfing the hero, who was tough but _maybe_ not 'being ground up inside Hookwolf' tough.

This left me with a few seconds in my own time to find a solution. Not much.

I couldn't use a tool. I couldn't shove Aegis. I couldn't reason with the enemy. Using the gun was a last measure, and there was one other option.

Gathering all the strength I had in my weakened, slender frame, I forced my fingers into Hookwolf's eyes and sidestepped before I was crushed in between his metal and Aegis, who was doing his best to initiate a dodge.

Hoping that would be enough, I ran around to the man who should have been crying over his mistreated genitals and kicked his foot into a position that had him trip himself.

He started stumbling backwards, and where his skill had him adjusting so he would fall down in a favorable position, I nudged him out of balance again. Somehow, I had to intervene this way three times before he was close enough to the floor.

No visible powers, an exceptional fighter from the Empire. I remembered reading about one such cape, although the name escaped me.

As he was currently falling, his back would take most of the impact, which wouldn't be sufficient to take him out for any length of time. I needed the freedom to devote some of my attention to Aegis, who was half-escaping a blinded, howling Hookwolf with nudges here and there.

I sat down, my knee positioned just below the falling fighter's head.

Then I slowed down and he smashed his head on my knee, which had him rolling on the floor. What I hadn't expected was how much it hurt _me_ as well, even though I was ready for the impact. Still, I got him.

I accelerated again to go help Aegis after giving Headknee another kick between the legs.

My fellow hero was covered in blood, the left side of his body absolutely mangled, but he was mostly clear of Hookwolf's rolling blades. The villain himself had one human hand pressed to his face while he lashed out blindly around him.

We simply didn't have the firepower to take him out. I set to work using my nudges to edge Aegis closer to the exit whenever possible, and soon enough - minutes in my perception of time - we were clear.

The man whose gun I'd taken was nowhere to be found, but I was able to retrieve the package before rejoining Vista on the rooftop. Aegis flew up and landed next to us a second later.

"We're leaving", was ell he said, and we did what we had done earlier, flying, speeding, bending the laws of physics as we fled, only faster this time. Aegis was calling for reinforcements, describing the address of the alley.

I could have reached the PRT building much faster, but I chose to remain by my teammates.


End file.
